From the Alumni Office:

Jenny Engle ’12, ’15/MA<br />Director of Alumni Relations — Jenny Engle ’12, ’15/MA
Director of Alumni Relations

**Ready and Waiting to Hear Your Siena Stories!**

It was this time last year when I was chosen to be the Director of Alumni Relations. I came to the Alumni Office with four years of experience working in Advancement at Siena Heights. I had been a non-traditional undergraduate student and was a current graduate student when I accepted the offer. I sit here today and reminisce on all that I love about Siena.

I am thrilled that I work for, and have been educated at, an institution that truly lives its mission—to assist people to become more competent, purposeful and ethical through a teaching and learning environment which respects the dignity of all.

On my first official day in the Alumni Office in mid-November, I learned quickly that while I can start each day with a plan—that plans don’t always go as expected and that I would need to be flexible.

The unplanned part of that first day was also the best part of that day. I had an unexpected visitor—a member of the class of 1976. This alum had not been back to campus since graduation nearly 40 years ago. He was in the area visiting, and stopped in looking for contact information of a former classmate he was hoping to connect with. We spent some time chatting about his experience at Siena and talking about all of the changes that have occurred over the years. He seemed genuinely happy to be on campus, and pleasantly surprised by the different look and growth of Siena Heights.

From the President:

Come and See (And Experience) Siena Heights!

Faith and belief.

As an Adrian Dominican Sister, that was what I arrived with when I stepped on campus for the first time as President of Siena Heights University a decade ago.

My faith in God. My belief in the goodness of people and in the Siena Heights mission. What else did I really need?

Well, as you might imagine, it wasn’t as easy as just praying and waiting for good things to happen. Our faith demands action, demands hard work, demands a commitment to doing what is right, then believing that God will work through you and others to accomplish your goals—and, of course, God’s.

The last 10 years at Siena Heights have been an incredible journey. The story a few pages over in this issue documents much of that journey, and all of the wonderful and amazing things that have happened during that time. However, allow me to use this column to offer some of my personal reflections:

People President

Celebrating 10 Years at Siena Heights, Sister Peg Albert Has Built Her Presidency Around Community, Relationships

Maybe it was a calling.

She likes to refer to it as a “nudge.” Regardless, accepting the job as President of Siena Heights University was something Sister Peg Albert, OP, PhD, felt compelled to do in the spring of 2006.

As she approaches her 10th anniversary as SHU President in July 2016, Sister Peg can’t imagine being any place else. An Adrian Dominican Sister who had spent most of her adult life around family and friends and working at ADS-sponsored Barry University in the warm and sunny comfort of Miami, Fla., she now has firmly established her legacy in southern Michigan.

And what a legacy it is. Over the past decade, Siena Heights has “grown up” in many ways. In a period that included the worst recession in decades, where many higher education institutions had to scale back plans, projects and personnel, Siena Heights has bucked the trend. Enrollment increased, facilities improved, programs and positions added and prominence amplified.